Single-cell analysis of the miRNA activities in tuberculous meningitis (TBM) model mice injected with the BCG vaccine.

BACKGROUND

Our previous study revealed the transcriptome atlas of specific cell types in tuberculous meningitis (TBM) model mice injected with the BCG vaccine via scRNA sequencing. However, the activities of miRNAs in TBM at single-cell resolution remain to be explored.

METHOD

Cell type-specific miRNA activities were investigated by using motif enrichment analyses (miReact) on the transcriptome data of 15 cell types. The target mRNAs of miRNAs were predicted and subjected to enrichment analysis. Furthermore, miRNAs and their target mRNAs with opposite expression trends were chosen to construct functional networks. Besides, qRT-PCR and RNA scope were performed to verify the expression level of representative miRNA.

RESULTS

The tSNE dimensionality reduction presented 15 cell types in TBM model mice, in which microglia and endothelial cells accounted for the majority. Target mRNAs of each cell type were predicted for verification or network construction. The immune and inflammation-related miRNA-mRNA networks of macrophages and microglia, oxidative phosphorylation-related miRNA-mRNA networks of neurons, ion and protein transport-related networks of epididymal cells, and angiogenesis-related miRNA-mRNA networks of VSMCs were constructed. The miRNA activity analysis revealed that miR-21a-3p activity was increased in microglia, macrophages, neurons and epididymal cells. The result of qRT-PCR and RNA scope indicate that miR-21a-3p was significantly higher-expressed in TBM brain tissue compared with normal brain tissue.

CONCLUSION

In our study, an in-depth exploration of the mRNA expression and miRNA activity of macrophages, microglia, epididymal cells, neurons and vascular smooth muscle cells during TBM progression was conducted using scRNA-Seq, which provided novel insights into the immune cell engagement in TBM patients.